Ebola Preparedness and Traditional Healers in South Sudan

Helpdesk Report Ebola preparedness and traditional healers in South Sudan Catherine Grant Institute of Development Studies 07 November 2018 Question A review looking at the anthropological evidence on informal/traditional health care systems/services in the Western and Central Equatoria in South Sudan and how these can be utilised for surveillance, behaviour change communication and vaccinations in the case of an Ebola outbreak. Contents 1. Summary 2. Background on anthropological evidence in South Sudan 3. Traditional healers/informal health systems 4. Surveillance and alerts 5. Communicating with traditional healers 6. Vaccination 7. Future research 8. References The K4D helpdesk service provides brief summaries of current research, evidence, and lessons learned. Helpdesk reports are not rigorous or systematic reviews; they are intended to provide an introduction to the most important evidence related to a research question. They draw on a rapid desk- based review of published literature and consultation with subject specialists. Helpdesk reports are commissioned by the UK Department for International Development and other Government departments, but the views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of DFID, the UK Government, K4D or any other contributing organisation. For further information, please contact [email protected]. 1. Summary This review focuses on the evidence on Ebola preparedness in South Sudan through an anthropological lens, looking at informal and traditional health care systems. It presents the evidence on how these can be utilised for surveillance, behaviour change communication, and vaccinations in the case of an Ebola outbreak, including: establishing surveillance of these services and how healers would be able to provide alerts about possible cases in the event of an Ebola outbreak in South Sudan; evidence on how to provide information to traditional healers on how they can protect themselves from infection using simple methods, and to stop them becoming ‘super- spreaders’ of the virus, and how to potentially vaccinate or provide information on vaccines to these healers alongside other health workers. The main linguistic groupings and ethnic groups that are predominant in areas considered to be at highest risk of Ebola outbreak in South Sudan are: Zande, Baka, Moru, Kakwa, Pojulu, Kuku, Bari, Acholi, Madi, Lotuko, Toposa and Didinga, so these are the focus of this report. These groups were provided by the team that commissioned this report. To fully answer this research question would involve specific anthropological research on traditional healers in South Sudan and how these are likely to be utilised during an Ebola outbreak, as well as past evidence on setting up surveillance systems, communication with traditional healers and vaccination programs in South Sudan. Research that specifically answers these questions was not found during this review. However, anthropological studies of health seeking behaviour and use of traditional healers in South Sudan were found, as well as examples of surveillance, behaviour change communication, and vaccination use in neighbouring countries. Examples from previous Ebola outbreaks in the African continent are also included. Combined with expert comments and testimony, this information should provide useful evidence for answering the questions posed for this review. Evidence on how health seeking behaviour to traditional healers may work in an Ebola outbreak in South Sudan could be seen as a gap in knowledge, as there hasn’t been an outbreak there. However, research on other diseases and health seeking behaviour may also be useful evidence in this area. It is important to consider that people’s behaviour does change during epidemics, something that is often left out of traditional disease models which ignore social science and anthropological approaches. It is important to identify social science entry points for preparedness activities. This evidence will assist in finding tangible ways to work within the health systems infrastructure of traditional and informal health care in South Sudan to better address the social, political and economic dynamics of epidemics; and to ensure that interventions build on the social and cultural resources of the communities they aim to support. Additionally it is important to understand that the South Sudanese Civil War is an ongoing conflict in South Sudan and this makes the context more difficult to work in if Ebola were to spread to this country; analysis of the conflict is beyond the scope of this report but is an important area to consider. This report includes a section (2) on anthropological evidence on South Sudan. This section describes the ethnic groups that are considered most at risk, focusing particularly on their spiritual beliefs around illness, death and health. It additionally includes information on traditional healers in South Sudan and health seeking behaviour. 2 Section 3 focuses on establishing surveillance of these services and how healers would be able to provide alerts about possible cases in the event of an Ebola outbreak in South Sudan. It outlines that it can be, and has been, possible for communities to play a significant role and establish surveillance of traditional health services, with healers providing alerts about possible cases in the event of an Ebola outbreak. It also provides information on ways to work with traditional healers, areas to be aware of, and lessons learned from previous outbreaks. Section 4 focuses on evidence on how to provide information to traditional healers on how they can protect themselves from infection using simple methods, and to stop them becoming ‘super- spreaders’ of the virus. This section also highlights that referring to ‘super-spreader’ events is less stigmatising and more accurate than ‘super-spreading’ individuals. It focuses on bottom up approaches and clear communication. Section 5 looks at how to potentially vaccinate or provide information on vaccines to these healers alongside other health workers. Traditional healers should be seen as frontline workers. They need to be located and mobilised as part of the vaccination campaign and supported to conduct safe practices. Information on vaccines and vaccination should be clear and understandable and shared through existing communications networks. Section 6 outlines relevant future research in this area, including a Wellcome Trust project on pandemic preparedness. Additionally, there is some research that is currently being conducted which the researchers have offered to use to answer any specific questions on this area that may result from this report or future work. Daniel Cohen and Professor Paul Richards (personal communication) also made an important point about South Sudan which raises genders issues and could be important for gender mainstreaming policy. Daniel Cohen recommended a book (Dirar 1992) that looks at women as knowledgeable producers and experts in processing food. Which brings up the following; medical concepts, biotechnology, and fermentation concepts are all related. Expertise can be translated and transferred — when they don’t already overlap. Cohen, therefore suggests researchers should not limit the concept of healer they are looking at, but include this area of food microbiology expertise and see how it relates, or can be related, to knowledge and practices of disease. This report is time limited but further research could be done to look into this area and how this may be important in the South Sudanese context. This point about expanding who is considered to be traditional healers, and who are asked to help when people fall ill could be important as if women are the ones that are consulted to help but more informally, they could be a missing group in the response. Paul Richards (personal communication) also pointed out that the male bias in the literature could be very important in highlighting a potentially missing area of work looking at women and their role and understandings and reactions to disease through a focus on food and caring for their families and preserving important and useful items. Richards highlights that women typically build up a distinct picture of the world and its rhythms and processes through a focus on food processing and preservation. Therefore a refocusing of the literature and policy on this area could be helpful if looking at who cares for the sick is expanded to include women and their caring role as women may also be more vulnerable to disease in the same way as healers so an important area to consider. Richards suggests ‘"on the ground" advice to make sure that there is timely and discreet engagement with influential older rural women, however they are organised locally’. Traditional birth attendants might be one route into local networks of influence in regard to matters of rural women's health, with significance for the wider issue of Ebola preparedness. 3 2. Background on anthropological evidence in South Sudan Different ethnic groups South Sudan’s population is one of the most diverse in Africa, with around seventy ethnic groups. McKulka (n.d.) provides information about most of South Sudan’s communities, their history, customs and beliefs, their geographical location on the African continent, and aspects of their livelihood. However, it is important to recognise that country boundaries do not apply to virus or social groups: kinship, ethnic, inter-ethnic, political and (informal, or “hidden”) trade networks cross over administrative

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